


With These Hands

by A_Zap



Series: Missing Moments [7]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hangst, Hugs, Hunk and Lance are friendship goals, Hurt/Comfort, Post s2ep2: The Depths, hunk angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2019-02-03 10:50:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12746844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Zap/pseuds/A_Zap
Summary: Despite all the trouble they'd been through, Hunk figured everything had turned out all right. After all, he and Lance had managed to return to the castle!Then Hunk sees the bruises and knows that things are not as good as he thought.





	With These Hands

Hunk was incredibly grateful to be home. The mermaid planet had been pretty and all, but there was nothing like being back on the Castleship. Especially considering how all of them had been scattered to the winds after battling Zarkon the last time he'd seen everyone.

Luckily, everyone was just fine, though Shiro was currently recovering in a cryopod. As Hunk stripped from his armor and put on his regular clothes, he at least knew that things would be back to normal fairly soon. Or as normal as things could get when you were in the middle of an intergalactic war facing purple space cat/lizard people. But the thought of returning to their kind of normal helped ease Hunk's anxiety.

Hunk exited his room and headed to Lance's room to pick him up. The two of them had agreed to swing by the kitchen to grab some food before returning to the medbay and waiting for Shiro to be done. Hunk could already taste the food goo.

Huh, the merpeople's food may have been brainwashing them, but at least it had been tasty.

Hunk sighed. _Well, until I figure out what can be baked and made into real food without killing us, I'll just have to deal._

He didn't even bother knocking on Lance's door, he just automatically opened it. "Hey, Lance, are you – " As he looked up at his friend everything stopped.

Now, Hunk and Lance had been roommates back at the Garrison. Because of that, they had seen each other plenty of times at different levels of being dressed. Lance, due to his large family and some of his hobbies, had always been a lot less troubled by it, all too used to dealing with people barging in his room without asking. Hunk had just gotten used to it.

So, when the door opened to reveal Lance mid-change with only his pants, shoes, and socks on, Lance didn't even bother turning around to see who it was. He just continued to walk over to the laundry chute to drop off his bodysuit before turning to get his shirt.

Hunk was the one who could only stop and stare at his friend.

Lance was covered in bruises.

They were large and dark, a mottled mix of black, blue, and purple. The largest ones were on his back, practically covering the whole thing. However, there were also bruises on his stomach and side as well, and there were even some that seemed to wrap around his elbow and shoulder.

Hunk could only stare in horror at them. _How… When did… Who… How did I not notice Lance getting hurt? I… Lance seemed fine; when - ?_

And that was when Hunk noticed that the bruises on his elbow and shoulder looked like a very familiar handprint.

His stomach dropped to his toes.

_"Hunk, you've been mind-controlled by the queen and you're trying to kill me."_

_Oh, god. Oh, god. Ohgodohgodohgod._

He could remember Lance telling him that he'd tried to kill him while mind-controlled. Hunk had brushed it off at the time; after all, they'd had bigger concerns at the time. But those bruises… He'd… Oh, god, he'd…

Hunk's heart seemed to be trying to beat itself out of his chest and he could feel his breath picking up, but he couldn't help it as his gaze redirected itself to his hands. His vision started to grow more blurry by the second.

" –unk! HUNK!"

Hunk's focus shifted as he felt gentle hands on his arms. They grounded him and he found himself tuning into that familiar voice that usually came for him when he panicked like this.

"You listening to me? You with me? All right. That's good. Just listen to my voice, okay? Breathe with me, alright? Okay, breathe in… breathe out. You're doing good, buddy."

Hunk followed the low instructions and slowly put himself back together. With a shuddering breath, he glanced up and saw Lance smiling at him softly, shirt now on, as he rubbed his arms.

"Hey, big guy… You back?" Lance asked, trying to remain light but Hunk could see the worry in his eyes.

And the very reason he started panicking in the first place crashed back into him.

Hunk jerked back and scrambled away from Lance, ignoring the flash of hurt in his friend's eyes, and couldn't help but call out, "Oh, my god, Lance, I'm so sorry!"

Lance frowned, but he didn't try to come closer. "Uh, it's no problem? I mean, it's been a while since you had such a bad attack, but you know I don't – "

"No, not – not that." Hunk found he couldn't look at him. "Those – those bruises… I – I hurt you…" He heard Lance take a sharp breath but he gazed down at his hands.

Hunk knew he was pretty big guy. At the very least, he was a lot bigger than the other Paladins with the exception of Shiro. And his years of splitting his time between his mom's restaurant and his mother's mechanic shop learning his passions of cooking and engineering had made him strong.

It had never occurred to him that that strength could be used to hurt his friends, but now that he thought about it, it could happen way too easily.

Lance was proof.

"What?" Lance squawked in protest. "No, you didn't! It was just mind control!"

"Yes, it was!" Hunk yelled and he could just feel the tears welling up again. He curled his hands into fists as he continued to stare down at them.

He didn't even realize he was trembling until he saw Lance's steady hands slowly touch his own. "No." Hunk couldn't help but look up at Lance at that. Lance's voice had smoothed out and was as calm and gentle as the ocean on a sunny day. He smiled softly. "No, you didn't hurt me. You were being mind-controlled. The real Hunk would _never_ hurt his friends."

"But – I still – it was these hands that made those bruises, Lance. So I did - " Hunk whimpered.

Lance shook his head. "Nope. Wasn't you. Because these hands," he curled his fingers around Hunk's, "are for taking apart machines and building something even greater. They're for cooking delicious things out of ingredients no one on Earth has ever seen. They help give the best hugs in the whole universe." Lance leaned in closer. "When I got hurt, and really that wasn't your fault, it wasn't your hands. It was a weird underwater serpent's puppet's hands."

Somehow, that lightened the weight that had formed in Hunk's heart. He sniffed a bit. _Still…_ "But – what if it happens again?" He couldn't help but ask.

"It won't. I know that at least for me, I'm gonna be keeping an eye out for brain-washing plants and animals." Lance pointed out. He studied Hunk's face for a second. "So…" He dragged the word out. "Hug?" He asked, opening his arms wide.

Hunk's face squished together. He had seen those bruises and didn't want to make them worse. But to deny anyone, especially Lance, a hug when they asked for one…

Lance looked about five seconds away from cranking out the puppy dog eyes as he wiggled his fingers beseechingly.

Hunk sighed. He gingerly wrapped his arms around Lance, keeping his touch feather-light as he held him close. Lance's arms encircled him back, squeezing him tight.

Hunk sniffed the last of his tears away. "Those bruises look bad. You should probably hop into a pod for bit."

"They look worse than they are; I just bruise easily." Lance huffed, though the way his fingers twitched told Hunk that there was more to it. "The armor got the worst of it." He seemed to be trying to make it better, but Hunk didn't have the heart to say that wasn't helping.

"If you say so." Hunk said, pulling back and looking at his friend.

"I do say so." Lance grinned up at him. He jumped up and grabbed his jacket, easily tugging it on. Hunk watched him carefully to see any signs of discomfort, but decided to drop the subject when he saw none.

"Up for some food goo?" Lance asked as he led the way out of his room.

"I guess." Hunk said, his previous eagerness for it gone in the wake of all that had happened.

Lance lightly punched him in the arm. "Don't worry, dude. I'm sure there will come a day where we figure out what's safe to eat and can have some real meals." He bounced his way down the corridor towards the kitchen.

Hunk followed him at a more sedate pace. Even with Lance's reassurances still ringing in his ears, he couldn't help but glance down at his hands once more.

 _Never again_. He silently vowed before he hurried up to catch up to Lance.

He was never going to let others use him to hurt his friends again.

**Author's Note:**

> AN: So I can't help but think that something happened between these two after The Depths. I mean, buoyancy can affect stuff underwater I know, but Hunk was slamming Lance hard enough that that rock, or whatever that stuff was, was breaking under him. And sure, the armor probably absorbed some of it, but yeah, that looked like it hurt and it probably left a mark. I purposely watched that scene about three times in a row to make sure I could note all the areas Lance got hit by either Hunk or the wall/ground.
> 
> And of course, Hunk is such a sweetheart that he generally doesn't want to hurt people, especially his friends. I once saw a post that said that after this Hunk didn't seem to really touch Lance for the rest of the season, but I'm sure there were some behind the scene hugs because Lance isn't going to let one of his friends feel bad about this sort of stuff. Anyway, hope you like the Hunk angst.
> 
> Also, as a theater person since I was 7, I can guarantee that Lance is a theater/musical person like me and gives 0 crap about changing in front of other people.


End file.
